Azimio Members of Parliament on Wednesday, February 21, stormed out of Parliament in protest against the Affordable Housing Bill.
In a press briefing outside Parliament, the lawmakers argued that all their proposed amendments were rejected by the House, claiming that the exercise is flawed.
Led by Suna East MP Junet Mohamed, the Azimio politicians suspected that the House was acting on instructions by the Kenya Kwanza government to pass the bill without any amendments.
"We want to tell members of the Azimio coalition that many of them filed amendments as early as yesterday but unfortunately it looks like there are instructions from the Kenya Kwanza regime that the Bill must be passed without any amendments," Junet noted.
"They are not listening to the amendments or issues that can make life better for Kenyans. For that reason, we have instructed our members to drop all our amendments because they are not been engaged in a manner that can make the bill better."
He questioned why the Executive would interfere in Parliament's business, arguing that the matter ought to be handled independently regardless of one's political affiliation. While issuing a way forward, Junet noted that the coalition members would pursue the matter in court to halt the entire process.
"We will prosecute the matter in public court because we have to tell Kenyans those against them and those for them. What is contained in that bill will make Kenyans' lives miserable and this is not what the Kenya Kwanza government promised," he added.
Several amendments were proposed in Parliament with the Kenya Kwanza MPs showing solidarity in passing the bill without amendments.
For instance, Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba proposed for the National Housing Corporation to be tasked with collecting the Housing levy. She argued that the corporation, given its extensive experience in collecting housing funds, would represent a more cost-effective approach compared to establishing an independent body.
"We cannot create a new board that will use the same money deducted for administrative purposes whereas we already have a body entrenched in the Constitution," Wamuchomba stated.
The amendment was unanimously rejected.
The incident comes barely 24 hours after the bill passed the Second Reading stage after 141 MPs voted for it. On the other hand, 58 legislators opposed the passage of the bill.
Following the voting process, Kenyans criticised the Azimio MPs, the majority of whom failed to show up to cast their votes in Parliament.
